My Favourite Music In Video Games Part 1

29Jan

Howdy ladies and gents, time for some nostalgic chaos! For a while now I’ve been thinking about how badass music is in the world of video games. I mean there are some REALLY good songs/themes/soundtracks that people outside of that realm wouldn’t comprehend. With that in mind I’m gonna start a new series of posts dedicated to some of my favourite tunes in video game history that have touched me personally and I feel like everyone else should hear too. So here we go with part 1:

Streets of Rage

The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis may have been inferior to the SNES with in terms of sound quality but hell it did a frigging good job with some of its titles and Streets of Rage is living proof. Not only was it one of the best beat-em-up games of the 90’s but it also had one oft he best soundtracks too. From the time the game starts with the introduction you’re in for a treat. But it is when you start the first stage when you get treated to some truly awesome sounds with sexy beats and sounds that become instantly classic. It’s like electronic dance music for video games, you could dance to it all. Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 7 and the Stage Boss are personal favourites. I would include music from Streets of Rage 2 but I’m overly familiar with it and didn’t grow up with it, but I have to rate Stage 1-1 (Go Straight), that song is badass!

Favourite song – The Last Soul (Stage 8):

I LOVE THIS SONG! This has and always will be my favourite song, ever since I was a kid this was the song that stood out as it was the one that sounded really final and made you feel like you were nearing the end. It just a nice mixture of doom and coolness rolled into one.

Street Fighter

The SF series is full of incredible music and trying to sing it down to any specific game would be hard as hell considering that there is like 1000 versions of SF after SF2 came out. One thing to note about the series is its music and how amazing it is. That was one of my favourite aspects about playing SF2, it is after all my favourite game in the series. To many songs to choose from including the Opening Theme, Ryu’s Theme, Guile’s Theme, and M Bison’s Theme to name a few.

Favourite song – Ken’s Stage:

Nothing compares to this song for, it has been my favourite SF song since childhood, there is just something about this song that screams cool and sets my fire alight. Besides the epic SF4 version, the SF2: Champion’s Edition on the Mega Drive/Genesis is the one!

Tetris

You may wonder how can you include something as simple and basic as Tetris? Well it is quite simple, because its AWESOME. Even though there’s only 2 really well-known songs I feel the need to highlight them. Type A is classic and I love it ever so much. The dubstep remix is one of the coolest/filthiest things ever and the remix inSuper Smash Bros. Brawlby Yoko Shimomoura sounds so much like Kingdom Hearts that I’m surprised I never realized years ago.

Favourite song – Type B:

Honestly after I came across this song in SSBB there was never a doubt in my mind that this was the definite song from the Tetris series, even though it’s an updated remix it is one of the most gorgeous songs ever. Somehow Masafumi Takada found a way to update a game song and turn into some crazy Mexican festival tune complete with crazy guitars, men shouting in the background and music from the old game too.

Donkey Kong

This is a series that I have a lot of memories with even though I never technically owned any DK game until I got Donkey Kong Country on Virtual Console around 5 years ago. I mainly have memories with that game, DKC has one of the coolest, atmospheric and varied soundtrack of any 16-bit game ever and to deny that is madness. There are many good songs to enjoy from the DKC theme to Simian Segue and then there’s. And there’s the remixes from SSBB including Jungle Level, Jungle Level Ver.2 (crazy) and Bramble Blast to name a few.

Favourite song – DK Island Swing:

This is just my jam yo. When you first start a level and see the environment and experience the gameplay for the first time, it is a beautiful feeling, and this song ushers you into that world with its gorgeous sound with great beats, piano-like notes and cheeky yet melancholy sound. It’s upbeat at first and builds only to then break down into a quiet little tune before cycling around again.

Kirby

This is a series that while it has a dedicated fanbase, seems to be snubbed by the rest of the world of gaming. Maybe because some oft he games are a bit easy or maybe it’s because they can’t handle the cuteness of Kirby. Either way it doesn’t matter. The music is still awesome. Trying to pick an individual song is HARD because there are loads to consider. I do like Green Greens from Super Smash Bros. Melee and I love the remixes of Gourmet Race, Butter Building, The Legendary Air Ride Machine (gorgeous) and Checker Knights from SSBB.

Favourite song – Fountain of Dreams:

While I do love the Green Greens original from Kirby’s Dream Land, this song from Melee is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have known since I was twelve and was one of the few songs that opened my eyes to the genre of classical music.

So there you have it, my first five picks. Tell me if you’re familiar, like or dislike my choices in the comments below. Also if they’re any that you’d like to see in the future let me know. Other than that make sure to come back for some more music madness in the world of video games. Bye bye for now! 😀